Last week, all of us in the law enforcement profession cheered when it was revealed in court that a videotape, presented as evidence by a gang member through his attorney, was fabricated to smear the good names of two honest police officers. The bogus tape aired on Fox-11 in November 2009.
The officers – assigned to the gang unit at Hollenbeck Division – had stopped the car because it lacked a rear license plate. A subsequent consent search of the vehicle turned up a handgun, which suspect Rafat “Danny” Abdallah, a previously convicted felon, was forbidden to possess.
When the tape was introduced as evidence to contradict the police report and the basis for probable cause, Deputy District Attorney Deann McCarthy had little time to examine it, but she knew something didn’t look right. As a former LAPD officer (and wife of LAPD Officer James McCarthy), her cop instincts kicked in. It was after-business hours, but she was determined to find someone who would help her prove that the video had been altered before court the next day. She was diligent – making calls all over the city, trying to find someone who would listen. She was finally able to make contact with SID video analyst Jim Hoerricks at home, who agreed to examine the video before court the next day. They met early the next morning and Jim went to work. After his forensic examination of the defense videos, the expert concluded that only one of the three relevant video segments was genuine – the one which did not display a view of the rear plate of the defendant’s vehicle. The other two segments were re-creations.
Long story short: two of the video segments had been staged to add a rear license plate to a Mercedes that didn’t have one. This was all an attempt to discredit the two involved LAPD officers and get the case against Abdallah dismissed.
When confronted with Hoerricks’ testimony, Abdallah's attorney, James Epstein, got the case continued to allow him time to get his own expert. At his next appearance, Epstein admitted in court that all except the one uncontested video segments were fabricated. Of course Epstein wanted to withdraw the bogus videos as exhibits, but at the insistence of DDA McCarthy, the altered video was admitted into evidence and the motion to suppress the gun was denied. The case is still pending, set for jury trial on April 13, 2010, and the right person will be on trial!
On behalf of all Los Angeles police officers and, indeed, the entire law enforcement profession, thank you to Deann McCarthy for her tenacity and commitment to justice that cleared the Hollenbeck officers. Also, our thanks to Jim Hoerricks for his outstanding efforts and professional expertise.
Deann went the extra mile to ensure that a defendant was not able to dupe the criminal justice system by smearing the names of two good cops. We sincerely appreciate all she and her colleagues do on a daily basis to make the Los Angeles judicial system work.
